6 on the second hand
by NCIStivafan94
Summary: "Tony, listen to me, run, GO!" - "I'm not leaving without you Ziva!" - The hurt in her brown eyes told Tony everything he needed to know. There was a loud bang and he watched his life crumble around him. Read and review! In progress!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey :) This is my first fanfiction story! Please review :) I love NCIS and obviously TIVA! This is just chapter one.. review and tell me if I should finish ;) I'll probably finish it anyway lol :) umm let's see what else... Don't read if you don't like Tiva. Rated K for now I suppose!**

**6 on the second hand **

"Tony, listen to me, run, GO!"

"I'm not leaving without you Ziva!"

The hurt in her brown eyes told Tony everything he needed to know. There was a loud bang and he watched his life crumble around him.

**3 days earlier**

Christmas was over and December was nearing a close. The white snow that blanketed the sidewalk in front of the Navy Yard wasn't going to melt away any time soon. The cold air snapped at Ziva's breath as she stepped out of her warm car and into the frosty air. She quickened her pace in the direction of the large, familiar brick building, anticipating the warmth and the comfort the stained orange walls provided her. _Maybe it is not the color of the walls_, she thought to herself as she stepped into the silver elevator, _but the company I find inside of them_. She let a smile sneak across her lips when her eyes fell upon her partner, brow furrowed, pouring over paper work she knew he detested. _Yes,_ she thought as his eyes met hers and a broad grin lit up his sea green eyes, _the latter must be correct._

"Gooood morning Zeevah" Tony exclaimed, stretching back in his chair to admire her appearance. Her usually golden skin tone was flushed from the cold outside and her wintergreen pea coat was dusted with snowflakes. She looked cold but seemed warm at the same time. Tony couldn't figure her out. Ziva's presence often had that effect of him, although he would never admit it.

"Is it STILL snowing out there?" Tony asked, clearly annoyed. He was sick of the snow and the cold, now that Christmas was over he was ready for spring. "I am sick of this weather. Christmas is over. Bring on the spring break baby! Or better yet summer." Tony mused as gazed wistfully out of the frost stained windows.

"What about New Years? That is a fun holiday, yes? Would not want to skip that." Ziva said shrugging off her jacket.

"New years," Tony scoffed "Now THAT is an overrated holiday. New years resolutions, new beginnings, blah blah blah,"

"What about time square and the countdown to the New year and all of the celebrating? It does not seem overrated to me." Ziva replied.

"We don't have time for celebrating. You two, find McGee and meet me in Vance's office in five." Gibbs said as he swiftly walked through the bullpen.

"Trust me Ziva, New years is a lame excuse for a holiday," Tony said as he punched number 3 on his speed dial and waited for McGee to pick up.

"You are just being a bahambag, Mr. Scooch" Ziva sighed rising from her desk and meandering towards the stairwell

"That would be Bahumbug and Mr. Scrooge" Tony laughed and followed her up the stairs.

"Whatever," Ziva rolled her eyes, although a ghost of a smile crossed her lips when his laugh fell on her ears.

"McGee!" Tony exclaimed into his cell, "Finally! Meet us in Vance's office pronto. I don't know! Just hi-tail it probie!"

Leon Vance stared out his window at the sparkling white city. He though of his wife and kids at home playing in the snow and making hot chocolate. His eyes glazed over and he wished he had a normal job with normal hours. He wished for more time with the ones he loved. He shook his head and brought his head down from the clouds. _You have this job for them. You are here to protect them. _He heard his door open and he whipped around to see Gibbs standing in the door. "Oh do come in Gibbs. I must not have heard you knock." Vance said sarcastically. He knew Gibbs would probably never learn to simply rap his knuckles on the door, but there was no harm in trying to teach him.

"You said this was urgent, director." Gibbs stated, matter of factly, clearly wanting to be somewhere else.

"It is, where are DiNozzo, David and McGee?" Vance questioned

"On their way up"

"I will brief you while we wait" Vance said, expression grim.

Tony and Ziva walked into the lobby outside Vance's office and they were followed shortly after by a breathless McGee, he had just sprinted up from Abby's lab.

"Where were you, McGoo?" Tony asked taking in McGee's disheveled persona.

"Helping Abby make fire crackers for New years." McGee said breathily, dusting glitter and gunpowder off his coat.

"See?" Ziva said pointedly, playfully and lightly hitting Tony's shoulder "New years is not _lame._"

Tony opened his mouth to make a speech about why New years _was _in fact and _extremely _lame holiday, but before he could he could get his words out the door to Vance's office opened and Gibbs motioned the threesome inside.

They filed in and sat themselves around the Mahogany conference table positioned in the center of the room. Gibbs and Vance stood before the three young agents and a grim foreboding over took Tony, he and Ziva exchanged worried glances.

"What's up boss?" Tony inquired pointedly, brow knit together.

"Our entire agency is on alert code blue," Vance said gravely, clicking the remote he held in his hand and drawing up documents and files on the plasma. "Washington is in grave danger. An Islamic Jihadist group by the name of Mulajeed, Arabic for 'new terror', has issued a threat on our nations capital. They say that they will bomb a majorly populated area of Washington on New Year's Eve. They're doing it to send a message. Their new years resolution is to inflict terror on the world. Every agency in Washington is on this case, and team Gibbs is representing NCIS in the effort to secure the city."

"Are there any leads?" Tony asked scanning the documents on the plasma.

"All we have is the letter they sent us. The best offence is a solid defense. Homeland security is locking down the most populated areas in DC and you four" Vance glanced around and Ziva, Tony, McGee and Gibbs "Are responsible for tracking down these bastards. I suggest you get started on that, we have three days till new years."

Silently, they filed out of the Directors office and down into the bullpen. Tony, Ziva and McGee sat down at their desks and began typing away on their computers. Gibbs looked around at his competent team; he didn't need to stress the gravity of the situation. _What I should stress is safety, _Gibbs mused to himself, _I want my team out of this mess in one piece. _Easier said than done.


	2. Chapter 2

**You all made my day with your reviews! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! This is a little bit of chapter 2, it isn't finished. I might upload the rest later tonight! Also, My exams are in two weeks :O So I might not to be able to post for a while :( But DO NOT WORRY I wanna finish this by New Years ;D read and review! 3 Oh yeah... I don't own NCIS :(**

**6 on the second hand**

After a day of placing phone calls to different agencies, doing research on Mulajeed and trying to gather intel and chatter, team Gibbs was not any further along in the case than they had been that morning after the briefing.

"Whoever these guys are, they're good." McGee said, eyes squinting at his computer screen. Gibbs gave him an icy stare across the room, "But we're better." McGee hastily corrected himself.

"Yes we are, McGee!" Tony exclaimed triumphantly. "Boss, I've got it." Tony nearly leaped out of his seat as he bounded over to the plasma screen. Ziva and McGee filed in behind the senior field agent and watched as Tony drew up news articles and pictures on the plasma. "Mulajeed is believed to be responsible for several terror attacks in Baghdad, Iraq, Jordan and Morocco," Tony said as he pulled up gruesome pictures of these attacks. "They are believed to responsible for attacks on a Biology lab in Morocco, A few Veteran hospitals in Jordan, and different schools in Baghdad and Iraq." Tony said somberly as picture after picture of bloodied masses appeared on the screen.

"They have no mercy." Ziva said as her eyes fell upon a snapshot of a screaming woman cradling a wounded man. It hurt her heart to see the pain in the woman's eyes. She had felt that pain herself many times before…

Tony glanced over at his partner and wished he hadn't brought up all these photos on the plasma. He saw something in her warm brown eyes flicker when they fell upon a particularly vivid picture of a screaming woman. He too stared back at the photograph. The pain was captured. Frozen. There was nothing he could do about it. He looked back at his partner; he saw a whole world of hurt in her eyes. He silently promised to protect her from pain. He never wanted to see hurt in her eyes again.

Gibbs stood up from his desk "I want the names and info on those schools and that hospital and that science lab, I want every detail of ever person that set foot on those campuses." He ordered. Tony's stomach growled as he and Ziva and McGee each retreated from the glow of the plasma screen back to their respective desks. They had all worked through lunch and he was having serious hunger pangs.

"Uh, Boss?" Tony began; knowing full well that asking for dinner might earn him a headslap. He just couldn't take the hunger any longer.

"I'm goin' to get a pizza, DiNozzo" Gibbs muttered exasperatedly as he pulled on his over coat and headed towards the elevator, headslapping DiNozzo on his way out. "When I get back you better all PROVE to me you deserve to eat!" Gibbs called threateningly over his shoulder.

"Thank god I need food." Tony mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. He looked up across the bullpen at Ziva. She was typing quickly on her computer. She looked worried. And he wished so much to go to her and hug her and protect her. She looked up from her keyboard and her eyes met his. He became lost in her warm chocolate eyes and felt as if she spoke through them, asking for help. And for a moment he felt needed. Complete.

She typed quickly away into a database hoping to find information on the schools Mulajeed had targeted in Baghdad. She felt Tony's gaze from across the room. She looked up from her keyboard and her eyes met his. She became lost in his sea green eyes and felt as if he spoke through them, telling her she would be ok. And for a moment she felt safe. Complete.

"I'm gonna run these photos down to Abby and run 'em through facial recognition," McGee mused out loud as he arose from his desk, eyes still glued to his computer screen. He looked up to see his two friends staring deeply into each other's eyes. Feeling as though he was interrupting something very important, he muttered something about being back soon, and inched his way out of the bullpen and power walked towards the silver elevators.

"Get a room, why don't you," McGee sighed agitatedly as he pressed the down button on the elevator. He had begun to notice a kind of unspoken language between Tony and Ziva. Something they shared. He always knew they were close, but he never really got the full picture. He often speculated of course- Abby LOVED to talk about those two. She thought they were a match made in heaven. And really- McGee couldn't help but agree with her. He saw the way they spoke with out speaking, the way the laughed with each other, the way the really cared about each other. And he was happy for them. He hoped he could find his own "Ziva" one day. The elevator door slid open and a crescendo of Brain Matters latest hits attacked his eardrums. He smiled to himself. Maybe he _had_ found his own Ziva- and maybe her name was Abby Scuito.

**THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE! I am on Christmas break now- PLENTY of time to write. Exam week was hell :p but I did well! Thanks for reading and keeping up guys I'm sorry I had to keep you waiting. I wanted to finish up this chapter with a hint of McAbby because I think they are meant to be as well and Tiva :) but I am OBSESSED with Tiva lol so they get the rest of the story ;) Next chapter will be up SOON I promise! thanks!**


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